🔼The name Aphekah: Summary
- Meaning
- Channel, Enclosure
- Etymology
- From the verb אפק ('apak), to hold or restrain.
🔼The name Aphekah in the Bible
The name Aphekah occurs only once in the Bible, namely in Joshua 15:53, where it is listed among the great many cities included in the territory assigned to Judah.
🔼Etymology of the name Aphekah
The name Aphekah derives from the verb אפק ('apak), to hold or restrain:
אפק
The verb אפק ('apaq) means to control or restrain, mostly of feelings and emotions. Its sole derivation is the noun אפיק ('apiq), which describes a channel, conduit, tube or pipe: anything that confines a streaming liquid and lets it flow downhill without spilling and without going anywhere but its designed destination.
🔼Aphekah meaning
The name Aphekah could pass for an otherwise unused feminine noun derived from our verb, and would thus mean something like Channel or Constraint or Restriction, possibly in response to some natural feature like a gorge or valley or a narrow pass between rocks.
For a meaning of the name Aphekah, NOBSE Study Bible Name List has Fortress but that's a rather unwarranted extrapolation. Jones' Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names proposes Strength, which also lacks accuracy. BDB Theological Dictionary refers to the related name Aphek, for which it reads Enclosure, Fortress.